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Saturday, May 19, 2007

One of the saddest things about old baseball players is that they die!

One of the retired ball players that I interviewed a few years back died the other day. It's always sad when one of these guys passes away. Here is an e-mail I got from SABR (www.sabr.org) about the career of Bill Wight:

Bill Wight, 85, scouting great & former major-league pitcher dies

He discovered and signed some of baseball brightest starsBill Wight, a well-respected major-league pitcher and scout and an influential figure on Sacramento baseball, died Thursday morning from a heart attack in Mount Shasta. He was 85.Wight, a resident of Carmichael since 1969, was vacationing with his wife of 60 years, Janice. In addition to his wife, Wight is survived by his son Larry Wight, a professor at Sierra College, granddaughter Susan Walters of Seattle and grandson Bill Wight of Orange County.Funeral services are pending.As a left-handed pitcher in the American League, Wight played from 1946 through 1958 for the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians.In 1953, he battled for a spot in the Indians rotation that featured future Hall of Famers Bob Lemon, Bob Feller and Early Wynn. In 1958 with an aching arm, he wound up in the National League with the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. His career major-league pitching record was 77-99 with a 3.95 earned-run average.Wight debuted with the Yankees in 1946. His best year was 1949 with the White Sox, when he was 15-13 with a 3.31 ERA.Born in Rio Vista, Wight grew up in Oakland. He was signed to as contract with the Yankees by Joe Devine in 1941, according to a story published by The Bee in 1984. He broke in at Idaho Falls of the Pioneer League, pitched the next year for Binghamton, and in 1942, he entered the Navy at St. Mary's Pre-flight School where his manager-coach was future Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer.After the war he made the Yankees' big-league roster as a reliever.He had one of the best pick-off moves in the game, catching dozens of off-guard base runners during his career. Even as a young pro, he was so proficient with his move, he was asked to work with Yankees pitchers and base runners before the 1941 World Series."He had the best move I've ever seen," said longtime friend Ronnie King, who scouted for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies.Wight played with Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Yogi Berra. He met Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig."He always kicked himself for not getting their autographs," said Bill Wight, his grandson.Wight sold real estate after his playing career ended before becoming a professional scout with the Houston Astros in 1962.Wight spent the next 37 year peering through backstops and filling out scouting reports, with the Astros for five years and with the Braves for the remainder of his scouting career.With the Astros, he signed Hall of Famer Joe Morgan and as the person overseeing regional scouts for the Braves, he signed two-time N.L. MVP Dale Murphy. He also signed Bob Horner and Sacramento-products Dusty Baker, Jeff Blauser, Rowland Office, Taylor Duncan and Andy Finlay.Throughout his scouting career, he expended a lot of bonus money. "It has to be in the millions," he told Bee columnist Bill Conlin in 1984. "I've spent it in about every state in the Union."Conlin wrote: "When you spend that much of the bosses' money, you have to enjoy their confidence, which Bill plainly does."Wight was named Scout of the Year in 1992 and in 2005 was inducted into the San Diego Padres Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame. His plaque is next to Ted Williams at Petco Park in San Diego."Bill is one of the nicest guys I've ever met in the game," King said."He was some scout, too." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------By Mark McDermott - BEE SPORTS STAFFPublished 2:49 pm PDT Friday, May 18, 2007The SABR Scouts Committee credits Bill Wight with this list of player signings:1962 Houston Astros Ernie Fazio

1962 Houston Astros Joe Morgan

1963 Houston Astros Larry Howard

1963 Milwaukee Braves Walt Williams

1965 Houston Astros Keith Lampard

1967 Atlanta Braves Dusty Baker

1970 Atlanta Braves Taylor Duncan

1970 Atlanta Braves Rowland Office

1970 Atlanta Braves Jack Pierce

1974 Atlanta Braves Dale Murphy

1975 Atlanta Braves Glenn Hubbard

1977 Atlanta Braves Bob Porter

1978 Atlanta Braves Bob Horner

1980 Atlanta Braves Ken Dayley

1980 Atlanta Braves Brian Fisher

1984 Atlanta Braves Jeff Blauser

1984 Atlanta Braves Drew Denson

1985 Atlanta Braves Tommy Greene

1985 Atlanta Braves David Justice

1986 Atlanta Braves Kevin Brown

1986 Atlanta Braves Kent Mercker

*SABR member Ed Attanacio did an oral history interview with Bill on 9/11/2003 and I'll post a link to that later this weekend.

FROM THE BALLPLAYERS - BASEBALLLIBRARY.COMWight, an unproven youngster in 1948, was halfway from California to the Yankees' spring training camp in Florida when he heard he had been traded to the White Sox. Chicago trained in Pasadena, CA; Wight had to turn his car around and head west. He became manager Ted Lyons's number-one starter but went 9-20 for the last-place club, walking a league-high 135 batters. He rebounded for his best season in 1949, going 15-13. In 1950, he went 0-for-61 at bat, an AL record for futility. Traded to Boston after the season, he pitched for six teams in the next seven years, never again winning more than nine. (RL)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY» February 24, 1948: In a key trade for New York, Ed Lopat goes to the Yankees from the White Sox in exchange for C Aaron Robinson, Bill Wight, and Fred Bradley. Lopat will star for seven seasons in pinstripes, winning 21 in 1951 and going 16–4 in 1953. Robinson's main value to the Sox will come at the end of the season when he's swapped for another lefty pitcher, Billy Pierce.

» August 20, 1948: The Indians draw record 78,382 for the largest crowd to attend a night game. The Indians go on to beat the Chicago White Sox, 1–0, at Memorial Stadium as Satchel Paige blanks the opposition on three hits for the 4th consecutive shutout by Cleveland hurlers. Bill Wight is the hard-luck loser. Besides Paige, Gene Bearden, Sam Zoldak, and Bob Lemon fired shutouts.

» May 15, 1949: White Sox hurler Bill Wight coasts to a 10–0 win over the Indians, and Al Gettel follows with a 2–0 whitewash of the Tribe.

» April 17, 1951: Rain cancels yesterday's presidential opener in Washington, washing out the debut of rookie Tom Morgan. Morgan would have been the first Yankee rookie ever to start an opener. Clad in an army uniform, Whitey Ford tosses out the first pitch today at Yankee Stadium, and Vic Raschi scatters six singles to shut out the Red Sox, 5–0. Bill Wight gives up all the Yankee runs, including a two-run homer to Jackie Jensen in the 3rd inning. Mickey Mantle, making his debut before 44,860, has one hit and scores a run. Also debuting is public address announcer Bob Sheppard.

» May 30, 1951: In a doubleheader loss with Boston, Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle strikes out three times in the opener, and twice more to start the 2nd game: Casey Stengel lifts the slugger in the middle of the game for Cliff Mapes. In the opener, Ted Williams scores from 2B on a sacrifice bunt, and then ties the game with a home run. Vern Stephens 15th inning homer off Spec Shea wins it for Boston, 11–10. Williams then ties the nitecap with a double and Stephens' single drives him home with the game winner as Boston triumphs, 9–4. Ray Scarborough and Bill Wight are today's winners. The loss drops the Yanks into 2nd place, where they'll stay for a month.

» September 7, 1951: The A's split a pair with the Red Sox, losing 8–5 to Bill Wight, before winning, 11–4. Billy Hitchcock has two triples and double in game two good for five RBIs. Bosox reliever Ellis Kinder makes his 54th appearance in the opener, breaking Wilcy Moore's club record set in 1931. Boston slips in the American League race to four games back.